The Right Decision
by Vixenette
Summary: Sirius uses Remus to make someone else jealous. SLASH.


_**AUTHOR:** Vixenette_

_**ARCHIVED:** At the Remus/Sirius Fuh-Q-Fest. If you email me at vixenette20 at yahoo, I'll send you the link, since it won't work on here. The NC-17 rated version is on there, as well as tons of other stories, all great._

_**RATING:** Since I'm toning this down from an NC-17, this one is R for sexuality and language._

_**SUMMARY:** This answers the following challenge from the FQF: One uses the other to make someone jealous._

_**DISCLAIMER:** If you haven't gotten by now that no one but JK Rowling owns these characters, then you are demented. Heh._

_**THANKS:** To Jasmine for beta'ing this, and to Minstrel for being a pal. Oh, and to the authors of all the stories archived on the FQF, because it has made my summer, reading all of the wonderful new stories._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius watched the boy from across the Great Hall. Tall, wavy blond hair, brilliant green eyes that crinkled at the corners, lithe but muscular body that made Sirius practically drool...Sirius wanted him. Badly.

His crush on Monty Postel had escalated from a minor twinge to an obsession in a span of two months, and that was not including the months prior when Sirius had just ogled the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain during games.

It was a well-known fact that Sirius Black liked both girls and boys. He was not one to take complete advantage of every admirer, but neither was he an innocent. His last relationship was with Kaedie Montague, a fellow Gryffindor who had finished school the previous year. The two had been together for almost a year before she had decided to call it off, saying that she was tired of him spending too much time with his friends.

So now, after being single for a little over a year, Sirius was ready to launch himself back into the game. Monty was the sort of boy that had the whole school wrapped around his little finger, much like Sirius himself. Both were handsome, had plenty of admirers, and got excellent marks in every subject. In Sirius' humble opinion, they were the perfect match.

Trouble was, Monty had never so much as LOOKED in Sirius' direction. Sirius didn't have a plan. He didn't know what to do. He had tried showing off, getting in trouble, pranking mercilessly, smiling at the other boy whenever he could...and Monty had yet to say a word to him. It wouldn't do for Sirius to go and introduce himself to Monty...it'd be too obvious. Plus, Sirius was only an ickle Sixth year. The gorgeous, popular Monty was a Seventh year.

Monty, at the moment, was laughing at something that one of his friends had said to him. Sirius watched him. The way the light shined down on the tall boy sent shivers down Sirius' spine. The Seventh year truly was beautiful.

"If you're not careful," a dry voice intoned behind him, "someone might mistake your open mouth for a rubbish bin. You'll be spewing waste all over our room. I don't particularly want to roll over in my bed to find an orange peel stuck to my arse."

Sirius turned to scowl at Remus, who was watching him with an amused expression on his weary face. Remus turned and looked across the room towards Monty, smiling slightly. "If you just said something to him he'd probably fall for you in heartbeat. No one can resist your charms, Black. You know that as well as I do."

"Well, I thank you for your confidence," Sirius started, "but you have to realize-" he cut off and made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. "Oh, he's coming this way!"

"Just talk to him," Remus told him while gathering his things. It was the end of lunch, and James was currently helping Peter in the library. "But hurry, because I don't fancy McGonagall making good on her promise to skin us alive if we're late again."

But Sirius wasn't really listening. He was sweating, seeing Monty walking, with his friend, in their direction. "I don't know what to do," he muttered to himself, almost panicking. When Monty and his friend were almost at the spot that Sirius and Remus currently occupied, Sirius did the only thing he could think of.

Or perhaps, he wasn't really thinking at all.

Reaching out, Sirius grabbed at his own friend, who was at the moment looking down at his watch with a frown. Clutching the front of the worn robes, Sirius pulled Remus in close and pressed his mouth to the other boy's.

Remus, of course, seemed to be in complete shock, so Sirius took control, sucking on the thin lower lip and teasing his tongue along the corner of the still-closed mouth. He placed one hand on Remus' hip, and the other on the back of his head, and pressed in closer, all the while trying to get Remus to relax.

Apparently gathering his wits about him, Remus started to pull away. Sirius opened one eye to find that Monty and his friend were staring at him, so he pulled away from Remus and ventured a smile at the object of his affection. To his relief, his heart leaping into his throat, Monty grinned back at him and winked, pulling his friend away.

"What the bloody hell do you-" Remus was saying, but Sirius cut him off with his hand.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "I wasn't thinking. I meant to, er, ask you first or something."

"You. Weren't. Thinking." Remus was glaring at him, his cheeks red, his brown eyes flashing with anger. Sirius swallowed-he could count the number of times on one hand that Remus had ever been mad at him, and it looked as if he had crossed the line once again.

But at the frightened look on Sirius' face, the anger seemed to drain away. "I shouldn't be surprised. You NEVER think. Now come on, we have to get to our lesson." He set his bag firmly on his shoulder and walked out.

Sirius, relieved that Remus didn't seem all that upset, called out, "I really am sorry," before jogging to catch up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The common room was filled with the laughter of two boys. Loud, raucous laughter that made Sirius want to strangle the two, for all the good it would do him, because they just happened to be two of his three best friends. He sighed and settled back into the couch. It wasn't as if he had planned to tell James and Peter what had happened at lunch, but word spread fast in Hogwarts, and everyone was currently discussing how Remus and Sirius were now RemusandSirius.

"So let me get this straight," James said breathlessly. "You KISSED Remus to get Monty Postel's attention?"

"I already told you," Sirius snapped, rubbing his temples. "I wasn't thinking. I had to do SOMEthing, you know. He was headed our way, and I just reacted on instinct." He scowled as James and Peter broke out into another fit of laughter.

Peter seemed to calm down a little after a moment, and reached over to pound James on the back. Still smiling, he asked, "Did it work?"

Sirius felt like smiling for the first time that evening. "Yes. He winked at me."

During the round of laughter that followed, Remus climbed into the portrait hole. The look on his face was not promising, and as he noticed his friends and sat in one of the armchairs, he scowled at Sirius.

"My reputation is ruined," he moaned as he sank down further into his chair. His light brown hair fell over his hands, which were currently now covering his face. "Everyone thinks we're together. Quoting love poems at me, batting their eyelashes while saying your name, asking when we're getting married, for Merlin's sake...it's a nightmare!"

There was silence for a few moments, and then James ventured, "So, when ARE you getting married?"

While Remus continued to curse in anguish, Peter was sitting up straighter, a grin spreading on his lips. "Wait, I think I just had an idea!" He made a rude gesture at Sirius when the dark-haired boy made an expression of extreme shock, and proceeded. "Remus, Sirius said it worked. You know, Postel actually, er, WINKED at him today. That's more progress than ever before."

"I know where this is going..." Remus muttered behind his hands.

James was also grinning now. "Peter's right. You two keep it up, act like you're together, and Postel will come around out of jealousy."

"Why do I have to be the one to do it?" Remus peeked out between his fingers at James. "Aren't YOU his best friend? Why don't YOU help him out?"

"Because he's already established a connection with you, Moony," Peter pointed out. The fact, which Remus had been trying to bury, remained undeniably true, and made it hard to wiggle his way out of the situation.

"And what do I get out of this ridiculous plan?" Remus tried. "I'M not trying to make some bloke jealous, you know."

"Oh, come on, mate," Peter said, a little exasperated. "You're doing it for the sake of friendship. How many times has Sirius done something for you? Think of how much sacrifice he's made on your part over the past few years."

Remus sighed. "Well since my sense of honour seems to be at stake, here...fine. FINE. I suppose I can suffer the humiliation a bit more. I'll do it. And you OWE me, Sirius." He stood and made his way to the other side of the room, disappearing up the stairwell that led to their dormitory.

Sirius had been silent during the entire exchange, staring at the fireplace, lost in thought. He was imagining a scene where Remus was exclaiming, quite loudly, how good he was in bed. Then Monty coming up behind Sirius and whispering in his ear, 'I'd like to find out HOW good.' Sirius grinned. If things turned out that way...

Standing, he stretched and smiled broadly down at his two friends, who had already switched topics of conversation to the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. "Thanks to you two nosy prats, I'm going to have Monty Postel in my bed before the end of the month," he told them. James just rolled his eyes, not looking at him, and Peter had nodded, a smirk on his face. Sirius huffed. They didn't believe him?

It was time to up the famous Black charm. He'd show them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remus had counted a total of two and a half days that had gone by since the last time he had been caught up in a crazy Marauder scheme. It wasn't as if he were the spoilsport-he created his share of mischief. But most of the time, he found himself persuaded into doing things by his friends. There was nothing, after all, that he wouldn't do for them.

So when the next day came, as the four made their way to breakfast, Remus resigned himself to the inevitable. He was certain that his destiny was going to be determined shortly-he was about to become Hogwart's most popular gay boy. It didn't matter that Sirius himself was bisexual, and that everyone knew about it. It didn't matter that Remus had already dated his share of girls.

What mattered, now, was the fact that Remus Lupin was about to be viewed as Sirius Black's boyfriend.

"Hey, look Sirius! There's Mont-"

Peter's exclamation was cut off by Sirius' hand placed firmly over his mouth. With a glare at the smirking blond-haired boy, Sirius turned to Remus, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Look, Remus, if you change your mind about this, you know you can just say the word. I mean, I know you're not interested in blokes and all."

Remus, resolute in his attempt to hold back all signs of embarrassment and irritation, smiled. Sirius was sorry? Sirius was okay with him backing out of the completely deranged plan of action? He was about to say that it was okay, that Sirius could go ahead and use him as a ploy to get the boy of his dreams, that it's what friends were for...

But as soon as he opened his mouth, Sirius was swallowing his reply. Remus felt his friend's tongue enter his mouth, and hands placed at his lower back urged him closer.

All coherent thoughts flew out the window. Remus was concentrated on the feel of a pair of hot, wet lips pressed against his own, and slick tongue running roughly over his palate, and really, Sirius was a pretty damn good kisser, for a boy. Remus could see how almost every sane person at Hogwarts could swoon over Sirius.

He was just getting into it when Sirius pulled away, breathless, grinning at him. "Way to get into the part, Moony," he said. He glanced down the corridor, and Remus could see Postel rounding the corner, at the last minute glancing back in their direction.

Sirius stepped away and ran a hand through his hair, the straight strands flopping back into his eyes immediately. James and Peter, who were standing like a couple of land-bound fish, gaped at him.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you both enjoyed that far more than you should have," James squeaked, unable to settle his voice into its usual baritone out of shock. "Are you SURE you're just pretending?"

Sirius gave out a bark of laughter, making the nearby group of First years jump and stare at him. "Remus is STRAIGHT, Prongs. And aren't you forgetting why we're doing this in the first place?" He lowered his voice and leaned closer, his eyes twinkling. "Monty's going to be mine in a couple of weeks."

"So," Remus said, his voice strangely husky, "how do you figure that Postel's going to sense your attraction if you're, well, apparently attached to me?"

"We'll stage a falling out, of course," Sirius told him. "A big row, right in the middle of dinner a week before the end of the month. That gives us exactly five days to pretend like we're together and make him jealous, and then the week to seduce him to my bed."

"Right, that sounds like a good plan," Peter said. "But how do you know that Postel's even interested in blokes?"

Sirius' mouth set in a firm line. "I just know. I can tell."

James rolled his eyes. "Right, so you have an acute sense of finding boys like you, now, eh?"

"Precisely." Sirius lifted his bag and placed the strap on his shoulders, motioning for his friends to follow him. "I'm hungry. These pretend snogging sessions are going to take a lot of energy." He glanced back at Remus, who was looking off to the side, distracted. "Moony, you're going to need a LOT of energy for me."

The four entered the Great Hall, and Remus nearly groaned when Sirius began piling kippers and bacon on his plate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day was perfectly normal, because they didn't encounter Monty Postel at all. On a Friday, it was understandable, because Flitwick liked to let his lessons end a little early so that his pupils could properly start their weekends, and Sirius knew quite well that Monty had Charms as his last lesson on Fridays.

Normally, Sirius would have been upset at the lack of opportunities to make Monty jealous, but as it were, it was a Hogsmeade weekend. While Remus was rubbing his eyes on Saturday morning, sitting up on the edge of his four-poster clad in only his boxer shorts, Sirius contemplated how he could go about really giving Monty something to fantasize about. Idly, he wondered if he could stage a scenario where Monty could catch him going down on Remus in an alleyway. Chuckling at the thought, knowing he could do no such thing, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he came back out, Remus was again lying down in his bed, face up, his arm thrown over his eyes. Sirius watched the rise and fall of the pale chest for moment, admiring the view of the trail of curly hair that disappeared into the waistband of Remus' boxer shorts. Shaking himself out of his momentary lapse of usually-present thoughts of Monty, Sirius made his way over to Remus' bed and touched his shoulder.

"Come on, mate," he said softly, "I know you're awake. Get up, or we won't have any time to browse in Hogsmeade."

"Mmm...don't feel like going today...just went not long ago...don't need anything..." Remus' voice was tinged with fatigue.

Sirius chose to ignore his friend's reply. "Remus! We have to take advantage of this opportunity. We could really stay near HIM all day today." He paused, seeming to think of another reason why Remus should get up. "And Monty looks really good in a jumper. Those stuffy school robes do nothing for anyone's physique."

Remus moved his arm, staring up at Sirius with a raised eyebrow, his brown eyes boring into Sirius'. "I wouldn't care if Postel went to Hogsmeade naked."

"But I would," Sirius said rapidly. "And you care that I care because you're the best friend a bloke could possibly want, right?" He ventured a broad grin, the one that he used to win his professors over.

Remus groaned and sat up, yawning as he ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair. During the day, he usually kept it pulled back, but Sirius liked it first thing in the morning like this, when it was down and flowing, the sunlight streaming through the window shifting the light brown strands like liquid gold.

"Why do you always pull your hair back?" Sirius couldn't stop looking at it, and he reached over to run his fingers through it, catching a knot halfway through. "You should leave it down-it looks good on you."

Remus winced as Sirius tried to untangle his hair. "Because it's irritating, hanging in my face. I keep meaning to cut it, but..." He shrugged, trailing off, pulling away from Sirius as he stood and made his way over to the bathroom. "Just give me a few moments for a shower," he called over his shoulder.

While Sirius waited, he entertained himself with thoughts of Monty. The handsome Ravenclaw's face was etched into his mind, and Sirius lay back and snuggled into Remus' pillow, imagining what it would feel like to have Monty under him in bed, the firm body stretched out for him, completely starkers. Smiling, Sirius fed the fantasy by rubbing his stomach lightly with his hand, reaching under the hem of his t-shirt to tickle the hair on his abdomen, the distinctly male scent of Remus drifting into his nose. _Remus is going to walk back in here any minute,_ he told himself, but once he got going with the fantasy and felt his mood shift from calm to excited, he felt himself growing hard.

_Just a quick wank, then,_ he thought, not even bothering to unbutton his trousers as he reached beyond the waistband. The familiar pressure of his fingers closing tightly around himself made him heady and dizzy, and he rapidly began stroking himself.

It wasn't enough lubrication, and he didn't really have a good angle, with his wrist stuck in one place, so he hurriedly took his hand out and unbuttoned his trousers. He pushed them over his hips and slid his boxers down a little, licking his palm before resuming coaxing the climax further. _Oh, gods,_ he thought. _Mmm, Monty, harder, faster..._ He made his hand mimic the actions in his thoughts, the image of a naked Monty pleasuring him with a skilled hand and mouth bringing Sirius closer to the edge.

Remus walked back in then, a small towel wrapped around his waist and another being furiously rubbed through his hair. His mouth dropped open at the sight of Sirius on HIS bed, coming at that exact moment, the sticky white fluid shooting up to land all over Sirius' still-clothed stomach...and some landed on the bedcovers.

Sirius, dazed and giddy, closed his eyes and sighed, a content smile gracing his lips. He laughed a little to himself, thinking that if didn't get Monty into his bed soon, he would have to break his own wrists to keep from wanking at every little thought, no doubt causing blindness and hairy palms and other such oddities if allowed to continue in this vein.

And then, with a start, he remembered that he had been waiting for Remus to finish with his shower. He wondered if he still had time to clean up the mess and tuck himself back in before...

A gurgling sound came from the doorway, and Sirius looked over to see Remus standing in nothing but a skimpy towel, staring at him with eyes so wide that Sirius thought they might be in danger of falling out.

Unable to think of an appropriate thing to say, he blurted, "You ready yet?"

As Remus hastily gathered his clothes and shot back into the bathroom, Sirius smiled to himself and tucked himself back in, using a simple cleaning charm to get rid of the mess he had made. He thought it might have done Remus some good to be exposed to him in the throes of passion-the werewolf was entirely too stoic and nervous sometimes, and Sirius often wondered if Remus was having sex as regularly as a teenaged boy should. THAT, if nothing else, would have made Remus a little more relaxed, right?

But as Remus walked back in nonchalantly, flinging the towel at the foot of the bed for the house elves to pick up later and jerking his head to the door in an indication for Sirius to leave with him, Sirius was almost certain that Remus had gotten a little naughty with someone at some time or another.

Because after all, Remus was a wolf, right? And wolves didn't exactly remain celibate for long-they mated as soon as they were mature.

Walking a little behind his friend, noting the glint of slight stubble on Remus' face, Sirius watched the face of the boy that not long ago had looked as if it belonged on the body of a twelve year old. They were nearly seventeen, now.

And Remus had never been anything if not mature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"MP, ten o'clock," Remus hissed as they wandered down the main street of Hogsmeade, each holding bags from Honeydukes. They were on their way to Zonko's, and Sirius was wondering if the day would pass without them catching sight of Monty.

He looked over to find Remus staring at him expectantly. "What? MP?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "It's Postel! Remember him? That bloke you fancy?"

"Where?" Sirius whipped his head slightly to the left. Indeed, Monty was standing with a group of about four other Ravenclaws, boys and girls, and the story that he was telling was apparently funny. Sirius ached to hear the boy's sexy voice for himself.

Well, it's not that he'd ever really HEARD Monty speak, but Sirius could only imagine what it sounded like. He was quite sure that it was a husky bedroom voice, sultry and low. He was also sure that Monty could probably make Sirius come on that voice alone.

Remus waited for him to do something, so Sirius, after noticing that Monty was facing in their general direction, did indeed do something. He dropped his bag and pushed Remus back up against the wall of one of the nearest buildings. Remus' head hit the wall, and he cursed, but Sirius dived in anyway, sealing the werewolf's mouth with his own.

In the beginning, Sirius moaned loudly for effect. He pressed in close and shoved his hips against Remus', placing one of his hands behind his friend's neck. Licking along the upper set of teeth, Sirius opened one of his eyes and squinted to the side, watching with satisfaction as a crowd began to gather around them. In the crowd, of course, was Monty.

Sirius sucked on Remus' lower lip, and licked a hot trail across the jaw to an ear. "Come on, Remus, he's standing right there. Make me look irresistible." He bit his friend's earlobe and got a loud moan in response.

"Oh, Merlin! Sirius...fuck...do that again..." Remus was feeling light-headed and disoriented, the pressure of Sirius' tongue tracing the shell of his ear shooting pleasure into his groin at an increasingly rapid rate. "Don't stop!"

"That's it," Sirius urged, placing wet kisses down the long column of Remus' throat. He was vaguely aware of voices murmuring and some even shouting, but he wasn't really listening. Concentrating on making himself look as sex-crazed as possible, he ground his hips forward again and slid one hand up Remus' shirt, scraping his thumbnail across an erect nipple. Returning his mouth to his friend's, he was slightly startled to find Remus' tongue slipping into his mouth before he could move his own. His moans did not have to be faked anymore-not with Remus kissing him like that.

"Mr. Black!" Remus heard the voice of Professor McGonagall, but he couldn't really make himself care at the moment. Gods, but Sirius was a great kisser! He had almost forgotten that Sirius was a boy, and that he wasn't being kissed for REAL. It was only a pretend act, a ploy. He winced at McGonagall's voice breaking through his thoughts. "Mr. Lupin! Extract yourselves from each other this very instant!"

Reluctantly, Sirius pulled away from Remus, immediately glancing over at Monty. To his delight, the boy was looking hungrily back at him. Sirius licked his lips deliberately, half closing his lids to take on a provocative look.

"Get back to school RIGHT NOW," McGonagall was practically screeching, "or it'll be detention for you both!" Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that he'd be in a lot worse trouble if he did. Instead, he nodded and tried to look sorry. He noticed Remus looking bewildered. _Good plan,_ Sirius thought. _I should also look like I don't know what just happened._

McGonagall, after giving them a speech about proper public behaviour in front of all the pupils, finally let them go.

In silence, Remus and Sirius began their trek back to the castle. Sirius was smiling to himself, knowing that it was only a matter of maybe one more 'show' before Monty would be throwing himself at Sirius. Remus was thinking of the fact that it had been so hot, kissing his friend, that he wouldn't mind if it took many more 'shows' before Sirius was satisfied of his goal.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said as they entered their dormitory, throwing his Honeydukes bag into his trunk. "We put on a great show, don't you think? Did you see Monty? He was practically ACHING for me-it was written all over his face."

Trying to ignore the pang that surfaced in his stomach, Remus smiled. "Just be glad that I'm such a good actor."

"AND a good friend," Sirius added, grinning at him from across the room.

For some reason, despite the fact that the last comment made Remus happy, the pang in his stomach didn't go away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday passed in a blur of homework, and by the time Monday rolled around, Remus was dreading it. He could handle a snog or two, he thought, but if Sirius mentioned one more time about how 'handsome' Postel was, or how good of a Quidditch player he was, or how good the Ravenclaw's arse had looked in the denim trousers he had been wearing on Saturday...there would be one less member of the Black family at Hogwarts.

The lessons seemed to last hours, but lunchtime came with a rumble of ravenous hunger from Sirius' stomach. He felt the insane urge to run to the Great Hall, but his friends were with him, so he made himself slow down, foot tapping impatiently against the stone floor.

"In a bit of a hurry, aren't you, Padfoot?" James' hazel eyes twinkled behind his glasses. "You're hungry...but for what, exactly?"

"You already know," Sirius growled, and then turned his displeasure to Peter, who was packing his things into his bag at the moment. "Hurry up, Peter, for Merlin's sake!"

Peter scowled at him. "No need to get testy," he huffed. "It's not MY fault that you haven't gotten laid in a few days."

"You know perfectly well that I haven't gotten laid since Kaedie," Sirius snapped back. He saw Remus standing by the door, looking at his feet as if they held the answers to life. "James, will you wait for Peter if Remus and I go and save you some seats?"

James waved him away, and Sirius rushed up to Remus and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him in the vicinity of the Great Hall. After much shuffling of Remus' feet, which Sirius highly suspected was on purpose, they made their way to the Gryffindor table. Sirius reached immediately for a piece of bread, chasing his enormous bite down with a large swallow of pumpkin juice.

"Black?" Sirius straightened at the voice behind him, knowing instantly who it was. He turned around, and it was no surprise to him that he had been completely right about Monty's bedroom voice. "Can I speak to you for a second? Alone?"

Sirius glanced at Remus, who was scowling. Sirius almost grinned at the possessive display on his friend's face-he'd have to thank Remus again later for the believable act. Planting a kiss on Remus' lips quickly, he stood and followed Monty out into the corridor.

"I was just wondering," Monty said, his eyes raking over Sirius' lips, "if you and Lupin were, ah, an item."

"You're wondering for you, or for a friend?" Sirius stood, shifting his stance to one side, allowing a smirk to grace his lips.

Monty just smiled back at him almost seductively. "For me."

The plan had worked, then, it seemed. And it had happened much earlier than Sirius had anticipated. He almost blurted out that no, he was NOT together with Remus, but a voice in his head stopped him. James' voice, exactly.

_Make him jealous,_ the voice said. Sirius instantly knew how he could solve everything.

"Yes, Remus and I are together," he said, "but we're not really serious, you know? He's an incredible lover, but there's not much chemistry there, and I don't suspect it'll last much longer, to tell you the truth. We're just better off as friends."

Monty nodded, his face and eyes giving nothing away as to what he was feeling. "Right. Well, I have to go get my bag from my dormitory. I'll see you around." Sirius watched him walk away.

Gliding on a cloud back to the Great Hall, he found a still-missing James and Peter, and a still-grumpy Remus, who was picking at the food on his plate. Sliding into the seat next to him, Sirius patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't look so glum, Moony. He wants me-he practically begged for it just now. All we have to do is stage a row, and he'll be mine."

Remus just glared down at the roast potatoes on his plate, not saying another word to Sirius until the very next day. And the thing that hurt the worst was that Sirius didn't seem to notice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Monty arched under him, his full lips falling open and his lashes brushing against his cheeks. Sirius stared down at the sight, running his hand along the other boy's torso, watching as the Ravenclaw writhed on the bed._

_"Ah," the boy grunted. "Black..." Sirius felt the other boy sit up halfway, and Sirius was rolling onto his back, grunting as Monty grinned down at him. A firm hand grasped around his erection, and Sirius thrust his hips up involuntarily as he stared up at the gorgeous older boy. Pleasant waves of desire shot out from where the hand squeezed him, and Sirius let his eyes close as he laid his head back, allowing the sensation of Monty's hand pumping him take over._

_"Mmm," he groaned. "Remus." He caught himself a second too late, and looked up to see Monty's stunned face morph. The hair lengthened, the eyes darkened, the face thinned, and suddenly, it was Remus staring down at him hotly. "Remus?"_

_The werewolf didn't answer with words. Instead, with a seductive smile, he leaned down to take Sirius into his mouth. Sirius gasped at the sensation, blinding lights flashing in his vision as he looked down._

_And abruptly it hit him-this was REMUS, who he had watched grow from a bright young boy to a studious and focused young man. Remus, who had once bought him a sack of Sugar Quills when he was banned from a Hogsmeade visit for detention back in Fourth year. Remus, who had accepted only his help in getting his robes back on after transformations. Remus, who..._

_Who had let himself be used so that Sirius could get another bloke. Sirius couldn't remember at the moment who the other boy could have been, because right then, he couldn't imagine it being anyone BUT Remus._

Sirius jerked awake at the sensations flooding through him, not only of desire but of something else, something almost foreign to him. It was something he had felt when he had been with Kaedie, and it was something that occasionally filled him when he thought about what his friends had done for him in the years past.

Realizing his love for Remus didn't seem strange to Sirius. He only wondered how it could have taken him this long. He pushed his boxer shorts down and made swift work of his throbbing erection, biting down on his free hand as he came all over his stomach almost immediately.

And now that THAT was out of the way, it was time for Sirius to do some rethinking. Of Monty, of Remus, and of the way his life could quite possibly take a turn for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plan of action, Remus knew, was to stage the row during breakfast. That way, it left the rest of the day for Sirius to seek out Monty in 'comfort.'

As soon as they sat down, Remus decided that he should just get the inevitable out of the way as soon as possible. That way, perhaps, it would hurt less in the long run. He turned to Sirius.

"I told you, Sirius, that you need to give me at least a few damn minutes. All you think about is sex!" His voice was loud, and he knew that he was stretching his imagination with the statement and the proposed argument, but he didn't care. This way, it would just make Sirius look better. "I'm not just some body you can use, you know! Sometimes, I'd just like to go one bloody day without sex. We haven't done that since the beginning of this relationship, if that's what you could call it!"

"Remus," Sirius hissed. He looked around wildly, noticing the stares from the other pupils. "What are you doing, you git? Sit down!"

"And you keep ordering me around as if I'm going to bend over backwards for you!" Remus glared, getting into it. "You know I'd do anything for you, but you take it too far! You USE me, you use my body, and I'll be damned if I ever let you do it again!"

Sirius almost groaned. _This is NOT what I had planned for this morning._ He sighed, knowing that he'd just have to talk to Remus after the fight. "You, you, you! It's always about YOU, isn't it, Lupin? You whiny bastard-if you're going to act that way, then you might as well go and look for some other bloke to coddle you, because I can't TAKE it anymore."

He was surprised when Remus pushed him. "Fuck you, Black! We're finished! Go and make some other boy happy with too much sex!"

And with that he stormed out, hoping that one of his friends would remember to bring him some food, because he had worked up quite an appetite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In their lessons, James and Peter made sure that they were sitting between the other two, knowing that it had to look believable. Remus kept up the act, sending daggers at Sirius with his eyes, and Sirius returned them with cold stares.

When it was time for lunch, Sirius' mind was reeling. He decided that if he were ever going to approach Remus, now would be the time, before Monty had a chance to come around. When the four Marauders entered the Great Hall, Sirius reached out and put a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Hey," he started when Remus turned back to him, "we need to talk." Remus nodded, and Sirius knew that he was being followed closely by his friend as they searched out the nearest empty classroom.

When they reached the classroom, Sirius led the way inside and closed the door behind his friend. Remus wandered up to one of the tables, pulling a chair out and settling down in it, looking up at Sirius expectantly.

"Er," Sirius tried. The eloquent speech that he had prepared in his mind was a bit jumbled, and he was sure that if he attempted to recite anything from that sorry mess, he'd scare Remus off for good. So with a deep breath, he blurted, "What do you think about kissing me?"

Remus cocked a head at him, a very canine gesture. It made Sirius want to smile.

"Well, it's not so bad," Remus said. "I've had worse, if that's what you mean."

Sirius laughed. "No, but thanks." He forced himself to relax. "What I meant was this: did you mind kissing me? Did you...feel anything?"

"You think I'm going to fall for you after a few snogs?" Remus raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his hair. Inside, though, whatever butterflies that had surfaced sometime in his stomach the first time he had seen Sirius that morning surged up, making his throat tight with nervousness. His dream of Sirius, the night before, had been a confirmation of what he had been suspecting since the previous day.

Sirius bit his lower lip, his breath catching at the way the fingers, stained a little with ink, sifted through the golden strands. Remus had never worn his hair down during the day, and now that Sirius had said something...

Remus had never been a handsome boy, on the whole. He was sort of plain, actually, but Sirius now saw the beauty in the individual features-the delectable mouth, the creamy clear skin, the sharp eyes...

"What is it?" Remus stopped his hand as he looked up at Sirius questioningly, searching for a sign of why his friend was acting so strangely. What he found, shockingly, was undisguised lust in the blue-eyed gaze.

Stepping closer to Remus' chair, Sirius summoned his courage. "I hope so," he answered the question that he had nearly forgotten by watching Remus. "I hope you have already. I realized, last night, that I was interested in the wrong person, Remus." Shaking his head, he moved forward until his knees brushed against Remus' own. "I know you probably haven't thought about it, but do you think...I mean, I'm a bloke, after all...could you possibly..."

Remus, who's chest had tightened since the first three words uttered by Sirius' mouth, shifted his feet in between his friend's legs and pulled him forward by the robes. Sirius lurched forward, unsteady, and sat to keep his balance. Using the advantage of the forward momentum, Remus reached a hand behind Sirius' neck and pulled the other boy's face to his, their mouths fusing together as the second it took for Sirius to realize what was happening passed.

Sirius shifted far enough forward that his groin was right up against Remus' belly, and he curled his tongue around the partner that it was seeking. Through the material of the robes, Remus could feel Sirius' erection pressed up against him.

They had only been locked at the lips together for a few moments when Remus' stomach growled, and Sirius pulled back, smiling at him. "As much as I'd like to continue this, I think we had better get to lunch. You might eat me if we don't."

Remus, panting, stared up at the other boy and grinned. "We'll do that later. That bacon you slipped me this morning helped, but I've been hungry all day."

At the promise of 'later,' Sirius felt anticipation choke his lungs. "Right. Later." He reluctantly stood and backed off, straightening his robes, watching as Remus got up to do the same. "Do you HAVE to eat now?"

Laughing lightly, Remus stepped close and kissed him at the corner of his mouth. "I'm starving. Like I said, we'll definitely continue this later." He started for the door, and then stopped, turning back. "Oh, and in answer to your question, you HAVE made me fall for your charms. I just realized it yesterday." He paused. "What about Monty?"

"Monty who?" Sirius smiled at him and followed him out the door, the pair making their way to the Great Hall.

The indifference to the fact that they had just staged a huge row only mere hours before was evident in both of them, as they sat next to each other and gazed at each other throughout the entire meal. James and Peter both looked questioningly at their behaviour, thinking the 'plan' was over. Sirius just winked at them both, leaning over to place a kiss on Remus' neck.

A throat cleared behind them near the end of lunch, and Sirius looked up to find Monty Postel standing behind him again. The green eyes focused on him, and then shifted over to Remus.

"Lupin? Can I have a word with you?" Remus glanced up in surprise, having just taken a bite of pudding. Nodding, he swallowed and shrugged at Sirius, following the Ravenclaw out into the corridor.

Sirius wondered if Monty was taking the cowardly way out, now, asking Remus if it would be okay to pursue Sirius. Thinking of what Remus would say, wishing he could listen in, Sirius continued to eat the remains of his meal, vaguely focusing on the conversation James and Peter were currently having about Lily Evans, James' current crush, who, regrettably, hated him.

Remus returned only a few moments later, looking shocked. He sat back down, glancing over to Sirius, who was staring at him with a questioning look. He shrugged and tried not to smirk, but failed. "It seems," he said to Sirius, "that you have been mistaken about Monty Postel's affections."

"What do you mean?" Sirius glanced back to see Monty enter, looking mournfully in his direction. He turned back to Remus. "What did he say to you?"

The smirk on the thin lips broadened. "It's a bit jumbled in my mind, but he said something along the lines of, and I quote, 'Remus, I was wondering if you'd like to spend the next Hogsmeade weekend with me.'"

James and Peter started laughing, and Sirius dropped his fork in shock. "He...he was interested in YOU?"

Remus grinned. "Well, now, Black, I'm sort of insulted. It IS possible for someone to fancy me, isn't it?"

Sirius shot him a look. "Of course it is, you prat. What did you say to him?"

Smiling down into his plate, looking a little embarrassed, Remus said, "I told him that I still had feelings for you, and that we had worked out our differences."

"Good," Sirius said, huffing. "Because I'd hate to lose you to that daft, lank-haired, big-nosed git."

"So, let me get this straight," James interrupted. "You two pretended to be together, got Postel jealous, and then got together for real? When did this happen?"

"Right before lunch," Remus answered, smiling up at Sirius through his hair.

Sirius felt himself grinning back. A feeling that he now knew as love spread through him.

As lunch finished and they headed out of the Great Hall for the next lesson, Sirius stole a quick kiss from Remus in the corridor, just to make sure that everyone knew that they were together 'again.'

It seemed as if Sirius had made the right decision, and he felt happy as Remus smiled at him before entering the classroom. Following, Sirius found that he couldn't wait for 'later.'

_END_


End file.
